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adventures in dental tourism

I woke at 4 AM to catch my flight to San Diego. By a minor miracle, it was on time,
and D. picked me up at the airport to drive me to his large jacuzzi suite at a casino
somewhere in the southern California area. We sampled the huge "international" buffet
and checked the golf course pond for birds from our patio. By this time, I was
ready for a long winter's nap. But I had barely closed my eyes before D. returned
from the casino floor with unfortunate news. The good folks who ran the resort
were offended by his five figure win that morning, and they no longer wished to
provide RFB plus airfare for a four day trip. Indeed, they said they would
only spring for that one night's expenses. Spoilsports.

Anyway, I napped, jacuzzi'd, and generally rested up from my flight. D. watched
all but the last 6 minutes of the Monday night football game, turning it off
just in time to miss what is said to be the most dramatic comeback in all
of football history. Since we were to be blissfully ignorant of this fact
until the USA Today was shoved under our door the next morning, we had
no trouble enjoying our huge room service feast. The cold appetizer tray
featured lobster claws, crab claws, and jumbo shrimp, while the main course
was a very decent filet and lobster.

tuesday, oct. 7 -- wild animal park

As we approached the entrance to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, a very nice
lady offered to let me in free on her membership card. Cha-ching. I saved
$26 just like that.

The park was huge and uncrowded, with many paths to wander and explore. There were
hummingbirds everywhere, but most particularly in the herb garden where we were
surrounded by the squeaks and chases of (mostly) Anna's Hummingbirds, though
we noticed Costa's too. There seemed to be a great many immature males, but
we noted some full adult male Anna's.

The elephant show was cute but the bird show was awe-inspiring. A large hornbill
emerged to capture and brutalize a toy snake while a crane poked around in the
background. Then a free-flying Green-Winged Macaw soared free, followed by an
explosion of white doves. An African Grey and two Amazons proved their talking
and singing talent, while a good-natured Emu demonstrated his total lack of
any skill other than an ability to run trotting to the rattle of emu pellets.

Most dramatically, a male Harris Hawk burst from a hot air balloon to dive straight for
a visitor's hand.

Afterward, at the Hawk Talk, we met a very pleasant Great Horned Owl and female
Harris Hawk, who is also trained to dive from the balloon.

I can't resist mentioning the unscripted show put on by Common Ravens, who boldly pulled the
tail of huge Kori Bustards to keep them from their food dish.

We caught the last train ride of the day and learned the story of the many
baby animals, such as giraffes and southern white rhinoceros, that
we could see in the park. Sadly, we also saw two of the last two Northern
white rhinoceros. As only two are left in the world who are young enough
to breed, the species is expected to be extinct within a few decades.

After our adventures in the park, we checked into an uninspiring hotel in
Chula Vista and (after some searching through the zillions of chains), we found
a family Mexican restaurant called La Nena, where I enjoyed the chile
rellenos and a cold beer.

wednesday, oct. 8 -- the broken tooth

I found my dentist's office in Tijuana with minutes to spare. Since I've
only visited the dentist once since 1982, I'm no expert on how today's U.S. dentists
do it, but the Mexican dentist was fantastic. He showed me every problem
in the mirror and/or the X-rays, then wrote up an estimate of the price, which
turned out to be right on the money. Since I like to know all the petty details
in advance, I felt very reassured by his careful explanations.

Somehow I had broken a back tooth which was more filling than tooth to begin
with. It had fractures in two places, so no wonder it was hurting. He repaired
that tooth and the one next to it which was also showing signs of decay, then gave
me an appointment to come back the next day and get the rest of the fillings.

While my mouth was still numb, D. and I walked around the Tijuana Cultural Center.
They had a visiting Rodin exhibit, and D. was thrilled that for a moment out of time,
we were the only two people on earth looking at the famous "Thinker." They also
had a large exhibit on Baja California history. I felt a buzz of power from
an old Aztec idol that I can't easily explain.

For lunch we found a cheap buffet called Sanborn's Cafe, with three red owls
on the sign. The food was abundant and adequate but there were no beans, and I
felt the chile rellenos were a tad harsh.

Back on Revolution Avenue, we bought some cheap stained glass. I got a nice
hummingbird but in the very next shop I saw a Yellow-Crowned Amazon. I would
have bought that one instead if I had realized.

America's borders appear to be completely porous to middle-aged and older
gringas bringing back their purchases from Tijuana's famed cheap pharmacies,
as I didn't see anyone's bags being checked. To be on the safe side, however, it is
recommended that you bring a prescription from a U.S. doctor for any
medications that you wish to buy in Mexico, as they will take your U.S. doctor's
script and even your U.S. health insurance, should you have any.

Note to
Rush Limbaugh: You are not allowed to bring any scheduled medications of
possible abuse such as Vicodin or OxyContin across the U.S. border.

OTC drug products available for discount prices include low dose
birth control pills and wrinkle/pimple creams
Retin-A and Renova. I honestly don't believe a woman
in her forties should have to pay a damn doctor to tell her how to put cream on
her face, and I salute the Mexican government for its very sensible attitude
toward these cosmetics which the U.S chooses to
treat as drugs in order to inflate drug company profits. A year's supply of
Retin-A at less than $20 beats last year's costs of
$600 for dermatological consults alone, plus the additional cost
of the cream itself.

Of course, in the U.S. "capitalism" means that big companies are protected from
having to compete with individuals and small companies on an even footing, but
in Mexico, capitalism still exists in the original sense of open competition, and
the little guy can actually find and buy cheap health care products. Amazing.

In the evening, I noticed three birdwatchers from Britain -- their species identifiable from a
long ways off by their costly spotting scopes -- so I approached them and got directions
to the place where they'd been birding. You know there are good birding areas
around when the Brits and the Germans start popping up.

thursday, oct. 9 -- tijuana estuary

We figured out how to walk from Revolution Avenue to the Plaza Rio, thus getting some exercise
and avoiding the need for taxis. The dentist finished my mouth, and D. and I
walked some more in the open market while waiting for the numbness to wear off.
We then tried a restaurant called (I think) Ricardo's, which had chile rellenos
to die for.

Back at the motel, we went swimming and did some water exercises. Near 5 PM we drove
to the Tijuana "slew" as the Brits called it. There was no sign, and most people
seemed to be more into the biking or jogging thing but whoa! Talk about birds.
It was a great opportunity to brush up on our shorebirds. And it was easily found
by taking the Palm Avenue exit off I-5 and going toward the beach, then turning right down
7th street to go to the water.

I don't know how we found room for dinner, but D. and I went to a little Mexican place
on Broadway in Chula Vista called La Costa Azul with its menu in Spanish. I can do
without the live music (sayeth the grinch) but the food was unbelievable. Even
the salsa for the chips was something special. The seafood soup was out of this world --
very much like a first rate bouillabaisse. The camarones al chipotle was nothing
to sneeze at either.

friday, oct. 10 -- fruit doves gone wild

It was still dark when we awoke at 6 AM but it gave us time to consume our abundant
leftovers. We returned to the Tijuana Estuary to check the birds. The perched Osprey
and female Belted Kingfisher were easily identified, and the huge American White
Pelicans put on a fine show. More challenging were the Western Sandpipers, identifiable
by one of my skills only because they practically ran over my shoes in their hunt
for sand fleas.

We reached the San Diego Zoo at 10 AM, just in time to see the release of several
free-flying macaws. The zoo is large, confusing, and imperfectly signed, but well
worth the effort. Perhaps the thrill of the day was the Harpy Eagle pair, with one
bird standing proud, its crest rippling in the wind, while its mate crushed a
large white rat.

The zoo boasts several eagle species, an impressive collection of huge hornbill species, a
dazzling array of fruit doves and other pigeons, and an equally dazzling selection of
lories and lorikeets including Tahitian Blue Lory.

Although not as colorful as the exotics, the California Towhees poking around
the zoo grounds were a new life bird for me, which created its own special thrill.

A quiet zone was established around the Giant Panda area, to protect the mother of a new
baby born in August. We were allowed to see this mother and baby only on closed circuit
TV, but we had an upclose look at a mother gorilla with her new baby. The orangatun and
siamang ape families were housed together, but the young orangatuns didn't seem to resent
the fast, graceful siamangs who kept flying through the exhibit. Indeed, we saw a young orangatun and
a young siamang blissfully grooming each other.

For dinner, we ate at Bob's on the Bay. We couldn't see much in the way of
boating for the thicket of parked boats at the marina. However, I enjoyed a good
chilled shrimp cocktail and a nice seafood and tomato pasta, and we arrived
just in time to miss the ending of one faux Hawaiian floor show and
the beginning of the second one, so all was right with the world.

saturday, oct. 11 -- homeward bound

D. and I had time to drive down Silver Strand highway and enjoy the many Brown
Pelicans from the car. We spotted an outdoor cafe in Coronado called the Crown
Bistro, where I enjoyed a mimosa sunrise and a chile relleno omelet. Yes, chile rellenos
do seem to be the theme of the trip.

For the first time ever in all of my earthly existence, I had a trip on Continental which
actually involved 1) having an aircraft at each of the four legs of the journey, and
2) having all of those four aircrafts actually depart the gate on time. This is probably
a one-time experience, never to be repeated, but I still stand amazed, because I was
under the distinct impression that Continental Airlines had a company policy against
getting anyone anywhere on time. I imagine that heads will roll at corporate over this.

As for my teeth, I am still re-learning how to chew on the right side of my mouth.
I wasn't quite aware of how I was avoiding that side of my mouth until I didn't have a problem
there anymore. It is blissful to be free of the pain. I'm still wondering how
I broke my tooth amid all the excitement of a tree falling on my house, a car driving
up my car's behind, and so on. Probably I will never know exactly when or how it happened.
I'm just glad it's over.